A Question Without an Answer
by Switchblades and Sunsets
Summary: Ponyboy's been asking Darry questions for as long as he can remember... But some questions just aren't meant to be answered.


**Another one-shot. ****In Darry's point of view... Something I haven't done before. (Ages: Ponyboy- 10, Darry- 16.) **

**Pardon grammar please...**

**Enjoy! **

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My youngest brother was always asking questions.

Before, most of them were harmless and easy to answer... Questions that were in black-and white, common sense. Stuff you'd learn in school.

"Darry, why's the sky blue?" He'd ask out of absolutely nowhere. One second he'd be eating a piece of chocolate cake, the next he'd be sprouting questions like that.

"Because when sunlight hits the particles of nitrogen in the atmosphere, the blue in the particles are reflected and that's what you see."

That time, I knew the answer. Ponyboy had gazed at me in awe and admiration, and you can bet that made me feel real good.

But the questions had gotten harder to answer with the passing of time.

"Who was the first person on Earth?"

"Darry, we just learned that the universe has an "infinite" amount of space in it. How much is "infinite"?"

"If there are no planets and no nothing in most parts of the universe, what exactly is that _nothing_? If it's there, doesn't it have to be _something_? I asked my science teacher, he said he didn't know... You know the answer, right Darry?"

"Someone asked this yesterday... It's been on my mind for a while. If no one hears a tree fall, does it make a noise?"

And the most difficult one... The one all parents are afraid of...

"Where did I come from?"

Predictably, I'd sent him to Mom and Dad with that one. He'd come out of their room looking even more confused than before. Evidently, my parent hadn't given him much of a straight answer.

Yes, Ponyboy had always been just bursting with curiosity. He asked everyone those impossible questions of his... Every day, there seemed to be a brand-new one he had, to confuse the whole family with.

Mom and Dad had always been proud of this trait of his. Instead of playing football and doing other stuff that most boys did best, Pony was always dreaming, drawing, or had his head stuck in a book. And he was mighty good at the stuff he did too.

But one day, Ponyboy asked a question I never wanted him to know the answer to.

"What's the difference between a Soc and a greaser? Steve says I'll know soon enough, but I want to know right now. Can _you_ tell me, Darry?"

No. I couldn't tell him. For once, I knew the answer to one of his questions, but I couldn't--- _wouldn't_, be the one to tell him. Steve was telling the truth for once... He'd find out by himself sooner or later. I was hoping it'd be later, but it definitely wouldn't be long now.

The thought of my littlest brother having to face the true meaning of life as a greaser sickened me. At ten, he had still somehow managed to maintain his innocence.

Heck, just yesterday, when Soda lost the horse he'd loved for so long to that big-time Soc, he'd been babbling stuff about buying Mickey Mouse back for Soda when he was older. We all knew it'd never happen, but if it made him feel better...

Every day, I lived in fear of something happening to Pony that'd break the fragile link that bound him to purity. The link that all of us had broken years ago...

Because Ponyboy Curtis was _not_ a greaser at heart. One glance and you would be able to tell, and everyone around us silently agreed. However, nothing could be done to stop... Well, fate.

How I could come up with something as cheesy as that, I don't know... I don't know anything anymore. Every one of Ponyboy's questions have just gotten too deep for me to handle. This one, in its own way, was no exception.

When you come right down to it, what _is_ the difference between a Soc and a greaser? Of course, there are the obvious answers... Money, class, social standing...

But when you dig deeper, we're all human beings, aren't we? So why the huge difference in our lives? I wish there was someone who would tell _me_ the answer to that question... Some greater force that'd explain to me the reason everything is how it is.

But so far, no luck. I guess some questions really _are_ meant to be left unanswered.

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So... My usual question... How was it? Just a short one-shot, but I'd love it if you could review. Pretty please?


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